Sex, Lobsters and Surrealism, or How Salvador Dalí Does Dinner Parties

Dalí’s Weird and Wonderful Cookbook Is Reborn

Maybe you’ve got a Salvador Dalí painting on your wall. Or perhaps it’s a coffee-table book in your
living room, ready to entertain guests with some surrealist paintings of clocks melting in the sun.

But you probably don’t have Dalí’s cookbook, Les Diners de Gala, which was released in limited
circulation back in 1973. That’s okay. Go ahead and keep on not having that, because Taschen is reprinting
the original in all its weird and sensual glory. You can order it now, and it’ll begin shipping later this
month.

Turns out, Dalí and his wife were quite the party hosts, often throwing elaborate dinners for their
friends. And being the sharing type, he put some of their favorite recipes into a book, along with the
eye-catching illustrations he’s known for. Hence that stack of lobsters atop disembodied heads. And other things too bizarre
for words.

The hardcover book is 320 pages chock-full of recipes, illustrations and musings by Dalí, like: “If you
are a disciple of one of those calorie-counters who turn the joys of eating into a form of punishment, close
this book at once; it is too lively, too aggressive, and far too impertinent for you.” You’ve been
warned.

The 136 recipes are organized by meal course, including aphrodisiacs, naturally. And recipes range from the
fairly pedestrian, like Roast Side of Beef and Vegetables, to more unusual fare, like Toffee with Pine Cones
and Bush of Crayfish with Viking Herbs.